Legend of the Guardians: Soren's Quest
by Commentaholic - Alpha 02
Summary: Time has passed since the fall of Metalbeak, and peace has returned to the Owl Kingdoms. Soren has long since departed in search of his lost brother, Kludd.  The owls remaining at the tree have returned to their peaceful lives.  But peace is temporary...
1. Prologue: Waiting

**Legend of the Guardians: Soren's Quest**

By Commentaholic

**A/N: Okay now, hear me out with this one. Normally I would stay out of movie fanfictions, due to their often misportrayal of the stories they are based on, but this one just wouldn't leave me alone! This one has definitely been a plot bunny in my mind for about 2-3 weeks now.**

**I've never read the book series, and any characters listed are in the movie. (Names obtained from very slight perusal of a wiki on the series.)**

**Now that that little tidbit is over... On with the plot bunny! er- Story!**

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><p><strong>Prologue: <strong>_Waiting_

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><p><em>"I've got to go, Gylfie," Soren said, stepping around the small elf owl.<em>

_"No, Soren! He tried to kill you!" Gylfie was in panic now. If Soren left, he would be out there all alone, Boron having already refused his request for reinforcements to help with the search._

_"He's still my brother. I have to save him if I can."_

_"Save him from what?" Gylfie asked, obviously confused._

_"From himself..." Soren replied, launching himself off of the lonely platform without saying anything else, catching a seaward breeze under his wings, and disappearing into the night, taking nothing with him but his helmet and battle claws._

_A shadow crossed the moon, then nothing more._

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><p>"Wake up, young one. You'll be late for your lessons." said a gruff voice that Gylfie immediately recognized as Ezylryb, one of her teachers. She shivered in response to the cold morning air as she opened her eyes, looking at the aged screech owl.<p>

"Sorry, I'll get started right away." Gylfie said, obviously a little distracted.

Ezylryb understood, of course. The young owlet had come out to watch the eastern sea every night since Soren had left three weeks earlier, drifting off to sleep only when her body forced it upon her.

Ezylryb watched the tiny owl flutter off to her morning lessons before turning to look at the Sea of Hoolemere.

"Oh Soren... If only you knew how much they miss you..." he murmured, watching the sun rise, the dawn's clouds alit with orange hues.

**-One Year Later...-**

A year passed with no news of the young owl. Life at the tree continued as it usually did, with young owlets being trained in the ways of the Guardians. Some of the new owlets were those brought in after the assault on the Pure Ones' stronghold.

The remaining members of the small band of heroes had gone their separate ways as well.

Gylfie had been sad to see them leave the tree, but it was inevitable, to be honest. It had been Soren's courage and determination that had brought the group together, and without him, they had lost their anchor to stay together. They _had_ promised to visit occasionally, of course. They'd gone through too much together to _not_ share some sort of bond.

But Gylfie remained, ever hopeful of her best friend's return. It was a common thing for the owls of the tree to see her tiny form silhouetted against the setting sun, gazing out to sea, awaiting Soren's arrival home.

_"Soren."_

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><p><strong>AN: Yes, VERY VERY short, but I kinda wanted to save important moments for legitimate chapters instead of dinky prologues. Next one should be longer. Review if you're interested, or not. I find that not many people review, or... at least, not as many reviews come in compared to the number of hits. Just thought I'd branch out into other categories, and this is just one that came to mind.**


	2. Chapter One: Ill Tidings from Lost Owls

**Legend of the Guardians: Soren's Quest**

By Commentaholic

**A/N: Well, didn't think I'd get around to updating this story for a while yet, but I stumbled across this draft that I started a while back a few minutes ago and the ideas just flowed.**

**Here you go. Yet another chapter of one of my... -sigh- many, many stories that it takes me forever to update completely.**

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><p><strong>Chapter One: <strong>_On the Wings of the Lost Comes a Warning_

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><p>"<em>Downed Owlets! Downed Owlets<em>!"

The Watch-Owl's shout shattered the still night air, waking most of the slumbering inhabitants of the Ga'Hoole Tree.

The Snow Owl Barran, the Tree Matron, was the first to arrive on the scene as the arriving owl alit on the landing platform. The newcomer's helmet dipped as the owl gave a brief bow to her, gently placing two bloodied bundles of feathers upon the wooden planks. Barran's eyes widened for a moment before she began shouting orders, requesting a medical basket for the owlets. The owls around her took off in flurries of feathers as they hastened to obey the snow owl's orders.

She was almost too focused on tending to the wounded owlets that she hardly noticed the mysterious owl standing beside her. His brown-feathered wing nudged Barran to get her attention before whispering in her ear in a voice that only she could hear, "The Council must be summoned. Things are in motion that must be brought to their attention." the owl murmured.

Barran nodded absentmindedly. Still caught up in her wounded charges.

"Matron!" the owl said, his voice indicating his dwindling patience.

"Of course... Of course..." Barran said, tearing herself away from the wounded. She gave a hurried message to a nearby Screech Owl, who nodded and took off towards the higher parts of the tree.

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><p>Gylfie awoke to a dull roar of conversation outside her hollow.<p>

Yawning, she rose and hopped over to the entrance, eyes blinking blearily in the morning light that obscured all but one of her beloved stars, the Sun. She was rather surprised to see a crowd of owls gathered around the door to the Council chamber.

"What's going on...?" Gylfie wondered aloud.

"Trouble, that's what." came Ezylryb's voice from behind her. The battered warrior stepped up beside her, turning his good eye towards the noisy cluster of owls.

Ezylryb would normally have been up in the Council chambers with the rest of the elders, but his seat on the Council was taken by Egilvar, a Horned Owl who had taken Ezylryb's place when the old veteran had retired a few months earlier.

Ezylryb had admitted to Gylfie that he had taken Soren under his wing in the hopes that the young Barn Owl would one day take Ezylryb's place in the Council. Of course, with Soren's departure two years earlier, Ezylryb had been forced to choose another one of his apprentices, albeit one with less natural talent than Soren possessed, one named Velvyn.

Though, Velvyn herself had, ironically, been lost in a storm, which had left Ezylryb's third choice, Egilvar. In Ezylryb's opinion, Egilvar was arrogant and quick to anger, but he did have the experience and knowledge to stand in Ezylryb's place on the Council.

Gylfie herself was up for nomination for a place on the Council as the next in line to be leader of the Navigation group, though she thought herself not ready.

Gylfie excused herself from Ezylryb's presence, fluttering up to the noisy crowd, hopping between the jostling forms, trying to get to the front of the crowd to see what was going on. She could see the Council, but couldn't hear what they were saying over the crowd's noise. She squinted as she looked between the guards' legs just in time to see the King and Queen of the Tree shake their heads at an owl who stood in the middle of the chamber, back to the door, before banging the gavel to end the session.

The mysterious owl nodded and donned his helmet once more before turning back to the door, wings spread in preparation for flight. Gylfie couldn't shake the feeling that she knew this owl. The helmet was familiar, as all helmets of the tree were custom-fitted and made to be unique. The owl soared overhead, over the guards, the owls behind Gylfie craning their necks to get a better look. Gylfie was smarter, though. She laughed a little as the other owls screeched in pain as they accidentally looked into the sun, hurting their eyes with the intense light.

She also knew shortcuts around the tree, being the navigator she was. So she fluttered her wings again, cutting through a small path through one of the tree's main branches, coming out just behind the strange owl as he flew past. She panted with the exertion of flying so fast. This guy was good, even if he didn't know she was chasing him.

"Soren? Is that you?"

The owl stopped on a small branch. He turned to face Gylfie before answering, not even bothering to remove his mask.

"No. I don't know where the legendary Soren is, but I'm sure he'll turn up eventually."

He turned his back on her and flew away, leaving her very confused.

It _was_ Soren's voice she heard from the mysterious warrior. She could've sworn it was him. But if it wasn't him...

...then who was it?

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><p><strong>AN: Yes, a tad short, and a little brief at the end, but I wanted it to end there. Ugh, short chapters. Never feel right ending them that way...**

**I might not update this for a while, but keep your hopes up. Reviews will move it higher on my list.**

**-=Commentaholic=-**


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